Vancouver and Hong Kong- On Transit and Politics

SkyTrain malfunction. Photo from CBC

"Umbrella Movement" in Hong Kong - Oct, 2014, photo taken from demotix

And so it is, on a hot summer sleepless night in Vancouver, a stumble across a CNN article on the success of Hong Kong's metro system, the MTR, finds myself discussing politics inside my head. A true sondry serendipity.

I voted "no" on the recent transit plebiscite held in metro Vancouver. Why did I vote no? I think I, along with many others who voted no, support developing transit to be more convenient so we can take transit instead of driving a car. It's occasionally thrilling to feel the speed and listen to the tune of of a 6-cylinder-twin-turbo engine, but the costs - in currency and carbon footprint - spurs us to get up from our lazy bums and walk to our nearest bus stop.  The biggest reason for saying "no" to the mayors' council's transit plan is that Translink has now developed an unbreakable image of inefficiency in both its administration and its operations. Paying taxes is not too different from purchasing a good or a service: We all want to make the most of our money, and investing more money in Translink clearly doesn't seem a good idea.

Why isn't a good idea? Commuters on the Canada Line may have seen ads that are trying to tackle the "myths" of inefficiency. Apparently, the cost per kilometre of transit in Vancouver is cheaper than our counterparts in Toronto and Montreal, and administration costs are lower than most other North American transit agencies. An article on Vancity Buzz titled "Vancouverites are spoiled with SkyTrain" compares how the SkyTrain fares much better than Toronto and Portland, and is very competitive when it is viewed along with other Canadian and American transit systems. I trust that all of these information are correct, and frankly quite appealing. The SkyTrain system has a on-time performance of 95%, a daily ridership of 390,000 (according to Wikipedia) which is 15.6% of the population of Greater Vancouver. The fastest frequency of the SkyTrain during rush hours is having a train in 2-3 minutes. However, this is precisely why Translink is sorely out of touch with the demographics of the city.

BC coins itself as the "Pacific Gateway," and Metro Vancouver is home to many ethnic Asians. Whether Asian or not, the culture and mindset of the people in Vancouver do not revolve around Toronto and New York. Our horizons do not settle in this continent, but on our neighbouring one as well. Whether it'd be a second home or a memorable destination, we have experienced transit systems that are leagues above what Vancouver has. Seoul Metro moves 9.8 million riders, which is 38% of its population, and its entire network is 4G and wifi accessible. Tokyo has a daily ridership of 6.4 million (even up to 10 mil in some sources), which is 18% of the population of metropolitan Tokyo, while train service frequency is as fast as 30 seconds during rush hour. The Hong Kong MTR system, if you've read the first link in this article, has even more amazing features. If you think the SkyTrain system is cool with 95% on-time performance, the MTR has 99.9% on-time performance while achieving a daily ridership of 5.2 million, which amounts to 72% of Hong Kong's population. It is also one of the most profitable transit systems in the world, and they've got their smart card payment system working since 1997. The MTR corporation does not hide its secrets of its success: A World Street Journal report tells us that it has helped the London Underground and Melbourne metro reach on-time performances of 96.7% and 93.7% respectively, up from 88% and 84%. 

So, Vancouverites are not spoiled by the SkyTrain. Maybe if you're from Portland and are moving to Vancouver, then maybe you'll feel spoiled. It's all about the expectations. And we've got plenty of people who has much higher expectations. 

Is this the purpose of me writing this? Just to diss the SkyTrain and praise the MTR to the heavens? No! In fact, Hong Kongers regularly criticize the MTR, even when the MTR must submit reports to the government for any delays that are longer than 8 minutes and will be fined proportionally for every delay that is longer than 30 minutes. Of the 0.1% occurrences of its delays, some have shut a small part of its system for more than a few hours. In their latest project, the connecting of the High Speed Railway to China, the MTR is grossly over the estimated budget and construction time. Hong Kong media is relentless in finding fault in that rail system that attracts the envy of the entire world. 

There is a Chinese saying that goes like this: It is easy to go from being frugal to being extravagant, but it is difficult to reverse this process. It is all about the expectations. It is the spirit of expecting more that drives progress and excellence. For Hong Kong, people are in political dissatisfaction because expectations are not met. Things seem to go downhill since Hong Kong became a part of China in 1997. Large infrastructures have turned to white elephants and blunder, promises are not being kept, values of integrity and excellence are being corroded. Many in the rest of China will think that Hong Kongers are "spoiled" because it has already enjoyed much more than the rest of the country and yet are still complaining. But Hong Kong is promised to receive much more in terms of political freedoms and are accustomed to excellence, integrity and efficiency.


The same can be said of Vancouver. People who say that the SkyTrain "spoiled" Vancouverites are not recognizing the spirit of excellence, integrity and accountability while in service to the public. Politically, we are much freer than the people of Hong Kong. But this freedom carries no meaning if there are no repercussions when the governments elected are not producing the results that are mandated by the people. 

So this concludes my sudden epiphany, and I'm sleepy enough to go back to bed.

Shima-Ya Japanese Restaurant

For those of us who are particular about food, our favourite pastime is looking for hidden gems in the city. For enthusiasts of all edible things Japanese, there are always cheap sushi around the corner, or the izakayas that are taking over the city like a storm. However, it seems harder now to find a quality sushi bar. If you live in the east side of Vancouver, here’s a suggestion for you.

Despite its location on the busy part of Victoria Dr near 40th Ave, Shima-Ya Restaurant is relatively harder to spot. For those of us who do spot it however, this small establishment creates a very different atmosphere than the surrounding area. As you finally find the restaurant - with its logo hidden behind a tree - then open its doors, you’ll find Sumo related decor, white walls, and plain wooden tables and chairs. The small store is run by a Japanese family, with the father and a helper at the sushi bar, and the wife, and occasionally the daughter who take of everything else. Unlike the modern and hip izakayas, the ambiance this place give out is more like a humble neighbourhood joint that you see in Japanese dramas. And finally - on to the food.

Their menu consists mostly of sushi, sashimi, and rolls, some appetizers, with a small selection of cooked fish. There are also seasonal items that are not on the menu. They serve up the usual favourites for Vancouverites like Salmon, Tuna, and maki rolls, and their specialty are the nigiri sushi that are more commonly found in Japan. Some of my favourites there are Toro (Tuna belly), Botan Ebi (Spot prawns), Tamago (Egg), and Geso (Squid tentacles). The two latter dishes are inexpensive, but the effort the chef put in making them shows his skills and professionalism as a sushi chef. The Tamago smooth and sweet with the surface caramelized just a little. The Geso is cooked perfectly and is topped with a homemade sauce because we all know how unappealing over-cooked squid can be. Although not very fluent in English, the chef would always be happy to strike up a conversation with the customers, and his wife will make sure you are enjoying the dishes the right way. Don’t be shy when you visit them and ask for special items!

As the chef puts it, the food he serves are “old style.” The decor is not hip, you won’t be served by a beautiful and charming waitress, and I hope you’ll like the 90’s - 00’s J-pop that they play. But one thing is for sure, you’ll be served with some solid, traditional and delicious Japanese delicacies every time you visit.

Nostalgia for school

After having lunch with a friend who is completing his degree at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, I decided to take a walk on the campus. The brick red walls and students hurrying between classes bring out a nostalgic feeling of something I didn't realize or thought to be so significant when I was in school.

The day to day worries as a student lies in completing the upcoming assignment that is due in a day, or in scoring a nice presentation that impresses the professor. Success seen in our eyes as a  student is, of course, getting an A. And the criteria of success is in how you think. You are rewarded for thinking out of the box, for examining the object in question in relentless detail, for displaying a spirit of intellectual honesty.

This criteria for success, after graduating from school, is an incredible luxury. Because outside of school, nobody except for the people closest to you give a damn about how you think. They are only remotely concerned about it only if it can help them make money. This is what makes school special. And this is partly why I think many of us like to keep blogs.

A Tribute to My Xanga Page (aka. a recent past)

Xanga was the sh*t before Facebook became popular. So when I found out through a Facebook status that it is closing down, I had to archive everything and take a quick look at my own blog before it is gone for good.

Reading my own past through my Xanga page is like reliving my own emotions through out the five years of which I've been actively blogging, and yet uncovering parts of myself that I've forgotten about, as if they are new. A lot of posts were two world cups ago, way before the financial crisis, and at a time where China wasn't as much as a spotlight as it is now. Yet even for someone as interested in current issues as myself, none of those really mattered as I flip through the pages of my dying Xanga page.

There is immense nostalgia when I reread the carefree after school bubble tea sessions with my high school friends, and how this combination of names may probably never appear together again. There are pictures of faint dreams that I had; of people who I thought I would hang out with forever, but now when I see them I'll only nod, try to have a small chat, then realize there's nothing more of which I can say. There are some who I wish I can hang on to further, but it all comes down to timing. A lot of my posts are not as coherent as I thought they were. Most of my later posts were quite cryptic, meant only for a selective audience. Although I wasn't a good chronicler of events, I was good at recording emotions. And for several times I choked up a bit as I reminisce the "golden age."

And then I discovered the poems of which I wrote, most of them quite free in structure, but there is one Shakespearean Sonnet that I wrote for a friend, because as Robert Frost said, writing free verse is like "playing tennis without a net."

If there is a dividing line between the "real" happenings of life and mere fantasies, most of my documentation on Xanga would be about the latter. Yet perhaps because of this, even if I forgot a lot of the things that happened and the words that I wrote, this Xanga page is a witness of how I came to be who I am.

Alas, I could go on and on forever about this neglected part of the past that I found again, but all (or many at least) good things must come to an end. And I shall bid thee farewell, and Godspeed. Ciao. Au'revoir. Goodbye.

www.xanga.com/archyami
7 June 2004- date soon to be

P.S. I did download all my past posts, photos, videos and music... but that is just to say a person is survived by his creative work. It'll never be the same again.

Food and Character

Man does not live by bread alone...

"Man does not live by bread alone..."

Today we're mainly focusing on the unorthodox and out-of-context meaning of the passage above. Man does not live by bread alone. There's chicken, beef, pork, lamb, rice, pasta, pastries, soup... And what if I tell you, the food that you eat may also reflect on your personality and character?

Of course I'm not pointing a finger at your dietary restrictions, nor am I talking about eating healthy and what that means to prolonging your life. And by all means, I'm not saying that you're a better person if you like sushi over burgers and fries. But my question is, given the chance and budget, will you choose something out of the "ordinary" and how adventurous are you?

When we think about a culture that is foreign to our own cultures, what is the first thing that comes to mind? If you're a white man living in North America and you grow up in the eighties, the first thing you think of about Chinese culture would probably be sweet and sour pork, egg foo yung, and Chinatown. If you are from Hong Kong and you think about American culture, the first thing that pops up would probably be McDonald's (or "jumping gym," but that deserves a separate post altogether). The first thing that we think about and that which is the most relevant to our lives would probably be the food.

Food is like a gateway to a different culture, and it is one of the most important aspects of our encounter with someone who is different from us. The difference may be geographical or cultural. Despite all the differences people have in traditions and values, we all need nourishment. And there is nothing easier than sharing the good things that nourish us.

Food is the first and the easiest thing for us to learn about, but it is easier for some people than others due to different preferences in taste. However, how open are you in trying at the first place, then understanding and appreciating the diet of people who have very different backgrounds from you? When we can spend the effort to understand the diet, then we can further understand the rest of their culture, and the people of that culture as real human beings and not just an exotic idea. Although I may sound weird in a society where words like "tolerance" and "multiculturalism" rule supreme, we must always revisit time and again of whether we do view a person of another culture the same way we view ourselves.

When we see or try something that is different, do we do it with open hearts and minds? Or do we keep casting judgement upon them, constantly comparing on how it measures up to what we're used to? Can we genuinely consider the things that are different from us, and then delve deeper so they are not merely exotic notions?

There is nothing wrong with liking or disliking something, particularly when it comes to food. But the underlying question is, can you put down yourself for just a second and embrace something else?

Internet Tyranny

Very so often there are these things that I want to write and share about, and yet at the same time I hesitate. The source of hesitation is that despite the speak of tolerance, we always ask only of others to tolerate ourselves, but are ever in haste to judge others. And with the internet, information can travel thousands of kilometers and come to us effortlessly with a drag of a finger or the click of a mouse.

Imagine that each person has a different set of "moral balance" in their hearts, where everyone has a different level of acceptance to whatever views you hold, and depending on how many friends you have or how famous you are, every word that you publish may come under the scrutiny from dozens to millions of people. You don't go to jail from holding views that are different from a lot of people, but you are surely condemned by some Facebook friend who doesn't really know you too well.

Obviously the things that I hesitate to write about are most likely views that aren't "mainstream" or "post-modern" (because even 'modern' isn't modern enough). Now I am no columnist or public figure, so it is less of a problem for me. Yet this imposing wave of public opinion may be serious enough to be called a "tyranny." This "internet tyranny" is probably the most recent incarnation of the "tyranny of the majority" popularised by John Stuart Mill. This classic problem of democracy, combined with the internet, is more powerful than ever. Laws may be passed in the past that put a minority in the disadvantage, but at the end of the day, what the law dictates may not influence our lives as much as the internet does nowadays.

Imagine further that on the internet, people tell you what you think is wrong day in and day out, doesn't that take a bigger toll on you than paying a several more dollars of taxes a month?

Running Away

My reading speed is explained fully by completing this book. I started this in the summer of 2011 and finished it yesterday. This means that I was reading on average 1 page in every 2 days. In fact, the original blog for this is actually completed when I was half way through the book during a trip to Hong Kong. The blessing from this is that I was able to see what I was thinking back then.
Coincidentally,  I am in a similar situation as I was then. I have just received my bachelor's degree and was taking a break in Asia in 2011. And now, I quit my job and am taking a break now.

I found that the act of reading a new book itself brings reflection about myself. At the very least, it brings myself back to intellectual honesty. And anything good can only start from being honest with yourself.  This is also a reason why I like to read non-fiction now. Because the real life experiences of a real person touches me in a way a made up character may not, and press me to think about the issues and problems this real person is talking about.

Running Away

"Have a Little Faith" by Mitch Albom surrounds two figures, one is his rabbi, and the other, a Christian pastor. One has been a rabbi all his life, the other was once a drug dealer who had a taste of his own poison. Unfortunately, both figures have now passed away.

A central theme  for the book, and one that I am interested in, would be our repeated attempts to run away; whether it'd be from God, or from that truth of which we must face. Mitch Albom became a renowned journalist and author, and is probably regarded as a successful person by many. But he has been running away from his roots ever since college, until when Rabbi Albert Lewis asked him to write his eulogy. Pastor Henry Covington was raised in a good family, but he chose to be a gang member and a drug dealer. In times of distress, he would call for the help of God. For many times God answered his prayers, but he kept his old life as God redeemed him again and again until one Easter, when he is fed up of the miserable life he has and was called to minister the poor.

Running away from God is like running away from our parents, whether we literally do so when we grow up, or when we run away subtly when we were only children. We run because our parents limit us in doing anything. We can't have fun, and it's not cool to hang around with our parents in front of our friends. They are always so strict with us, and quite frankly our parents can be annoying.But like your parents, or even more so, his faithfulness will rescue us every time, even if we don't notice it.

It seems so true, whether you believe in God or not. Sometimes reality is too big for us to bear, to face. Or simply, we are too ugly to be shone brightly by the light. Deep down we know what is good for us, but we are too proud to listen, and the temptations in front of us are too big to ignore.

Mitch Albom touched on this as well as many problems in the world today that I identified with. The only difference between him and I is that he brings them up so tactfully and with just the right description. If you can finally put down your textbook or mouse, do pick this book up and start reading.






 And here's a video of Mitch Albom and Pastor Henry Covington. It basically contains a summary of the book, and for Pastor Henry's powerful message, start from 33:00.